


and the spider said to the fly (is this what love is?)

by Take_Me_To_My_Fragile_Dreams



Series: Collaborations, Prompts and Requests [47]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Psychopaths, Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Armin has tattoos, Armin is not weak, BC I NEED IT, Badass Armin Arlert, Hitman Levi, M/M, Mentions of Past Torture, Polyamory, Psychopath Eren, Psychopaths In Love, Serial Killer Eren Yeager, Sort of normal Armin, say it with me now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 20:14:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9341405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Take_Me_To_My_Fragile_Dreams/pseuds/Take_Me_To_My_Fragile_Dreams
Summary: “Can you please stop talking about eviscerating one of my friends while you're on top of me? Your pillow talk leaves a lot to be desired.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is based on an rp I am currently writing with [themoonshalldie](http://themoonshalldie.tumblr.com/) (who is great btw you should all send him hugs) in which Eren is a psychopathic serial killer with a double life, Armin is his best friend with benefits and Levi is his hitman boyfriend

Eren smooths his hands out over Armin’s chest, gentle as if the man under his hands could shatter under the slightest pressure. He is always careful with Armin but he is especially so now. Armin was important. Something Eren had come to realize long before any of his mistakes had been made. He was important and yet still Eren had failed at keeping him safe.

“Eren,” Armin said, voice soft. He caught Eren’s wrists, holding them in place over his beating heart. “I can feel you blaming yourself. Stop it.”

Eren’s stomach twists as he meets Armin’s gaze, his own straying to his friend’s ruined left eye. The once brilliant blue iris is faded and milky, blinded from Grisha’s chemicals. For that, Eren would never stop deserving what his father had done to him. “I couldn't protect you,” Eren said, because ‘I’m sorry’ had been said again and again at the beginning even despite what he was.

Armin had always been able to make him feel more than Eren had ever thought himself capable.

“I stood by and let him hurt you. I cut your hair. I listened to your fingers break.” Eren lists the actions off almost mechanically, his sins all wrapped up in a neat little bow that screams _your fault._ And it is.

“Eren,” Armin says again, and though he does not say it, Eren realizes with a jolt that he is hurting him. His nails are biting into Armin’s chest, hard enough to draw beads of blood and Eren nearly recoils when he remembers that that is wrong, that he should never hurt Armin, should never make him bleed, should keep him safe--most of all from himself.

“Eren,” Armin repeats, firmly this time. “It's alright. We’ve talked about this. I don't blame you for what he did. He tortured you far worse than he ever tortured me.”

And they both knew just who _he_ was. Eren’s father had always been as unhinged as Eren, even if he hid it well most of the time. Eren had been alright with letting Grisha take that all out on him and had never expected his father to go after Armin. Not when they had been so careful, when he had drawn lines in the sand and downplayed Armin’s importance to his father.

Eren sighed heavily, twisting his hands to catch Armin’s fingers with his own. He traced the scars where bone had broken through skin.

Armin would always be too good for him. Brave, loyal to a fault Armin, who had saved him in more ways than one even with his broken hands and blinded eye. Who had done what Eren couldn't and had protected them both when Eren should have done it for him. Eren had been too out of it when Levi had found them but he had known as soon as he had woken up and seen the somber regret on Levi’s face. He had _known_.

And Eren had hated himself.

“Killing must be contagious,” Eren murmured, lips twisting into a smile. It was not a pretty expression.

Armin’s fingers twitched against Eren’s when his thumb rubbed over a sensitive spot at the base of his pointer finger. Eren distinctly remembered the white of bone breaking through that same exact skin as Armin had shook and tried not to scream. “I learned from the best,” Armin said carefully. They had not broached this topic before. Eren had wondered why until Levi had told him that perhaps Armin felt guilty. Emotions were so _strange_.

“I put a spell on you,” Eren giggled, pushing Armin’s hands down and on either side of his head. He bit his way up his friend’s throat, voice hot by his ear. “And now you're mine.”

Armin shuddered beneath him, hands staying in place even when Eren drew his own away. Always so good. “I was yours a long time ago,” he said, and Eren felt something in his chest twist until it almost _hurt_. Armin deserved someone who understood these feelings, who could feel as vibrantly as he could. But Eren had an oh so selfish heart, even as emotionally challenged as it was.

“Mine,” he practically purred in agreement, sitting back to take in his work. He thumbed at the blooming bruises on Armin’s throat, brushing away a bit of dried blood on his chest and pausing at the blue forget-me-nots climbing up Armin’s ribs. There were white lilies entangled in the flowers, green foliage climbing out across Armin’s skin. It was beautiful, as Armin was, but Eren burned at the reason why it had been necessary. Armin had gotten the ink after Hanji had cleared him to walk around without his blind eye firmly protected from light. Hair cropped and gone in some places and hands still broken he had made the appointment and gone, marking his body with change as Grisha had marked him with pain. At the first look of that familiar expression on Armin’s face Eren had had to escape to the bathroom, unable to sit there and not rip the woman hurting his friend apart, even if he had asked for it.

Eren had been unhinged while Armin had been on bed rest, asleep in the makeshift hospital room Hanji had set up in Levi’s bedroom and painless due to the drugs that kept him asleep. In those days Levi had been torn between making sure Eren didn't get caught in his maddened killing spree and in watching over Armin. In his insanity Eren had nearly killed Levi. It hadn't been until the hitman had shot him with a tranquilizer and dragged him back to Levi’s apartment that Eren had begun to realize that Armin needed him there far more than he needed him to kill--which was not at all.

“I will never deserve you,” Eren murmured, because even though he was far too selfish to ever let Armin go he knew it was true. He pushed his fingers into Armin’s mouth, both so his friend couldn't argue and because he could. Armin looked so pretty with something between his lips, after all. The look Armin gave him before his eyes slid closed told Eren he knew full well what he was doing. Eren flashed him an innocent smile, right before he kissed his way down Armin’s body to suck bruises into his hipbones. Eren had learned quite delightedly that Armin enjoyed being marked. There was nothing better than warning someone off with such a blatant statement of claim with just his mouth and teeth. If only Levi enjoyed it as much as Armin. They both had such pretty skin for it.

“Eren,” Armin moaned, when Eren let his mouth free. His hips rocked slightly, the mix of pain-pleasure too good.

Eren hummed, finishing his last mark before climbing back up Armin’s body. “You called?” he grinned, batting his lashes teasingly. “And right when I was about to get to the good stuff too. How mean. You must be taking lessons from Levi.”

Armin laughed. It was far better than the sound of his screams. “Sorry,” he said, tilting his head up to kiss away the pout on Eren’s mouth. “Next time I’ll use someone else’s. Maybe I’ll call Jean instead.”

Eren’s expression flickered into murderous. “One day,” he said, voice sweet and thick with poison. “You are going to stop using that idiot to tease me.”

Armin jerked, crying out when Eren bit down almost punishingly on his nipple. Another distinction between Armin and Levi: Armin’s chest was far more sensitive. “Is that a threat?”

“For you?” Eren gasped, touching a hand to his chest theatrically. “Darling, I would never. _Him_ on the other hand…” Eren bared his teeth, almost able to hear Jean’s pathetic screams. “I would cut his intestines out of his stomach and feed them to him while he was still alive if given the chance.”

Armin let out a huff of laughter. They were both aware that Eren would never hurt Jean--or well, no more than he usually did. For one, he was Armin’s friend. For two, it would lead a trail right back to Eren and where Eren was Armin usually was as well. “Can you please stop talking about eviscerating one of my friends while you're on top of me? Your pillow talk leaves a lot to be desired.”

The shift between murderous to sex was seamless in the way they both blended together. Eren almost couldn't remember putting his public persona up around Armin anymore. “Of course, love,” Eren laughed, rolling his hips back against Armin’s. Not everyone could stay half hard while hearing their lover threaten someone with violent torture. Eren was clearly a bad influence. “Let's get to the good stuff, hmm?”

Armin bit his lip, not deeming that with an answer. Eren pouted a bit as he settled back down between Armin’s legs, nudging the other male’s thighs wider with his knees. Eren liked to talk during sex, Armin had noticed it right away. If not distracted he would babble on and on, not that Armin minded of course. It was almost always good things.

Eren wrapped his hand around Armin’s arousal. There was nothing between them, having been in an all skin cuddling session before this had started. Eren wasn't complaining. One less thing to get between Eren and what he wanted. And oh how Eren wanted Armin. “For me?” he purred, flashing a smirk up at his friend. “You should have.”

Armin’s eyes didn't have the chance to roll before Eren swallowed him down, green eyes glinting mischievously. Armin’s hips bucked, his hands twisting into the sheets. They stayed put out of sheer will alone, wanting to touch Eren, to curl into his hair and pull him back up so Armin could kiss the smug dominance off of his face.

Eren noted the control with pleasure. Armin always seemed to know when Eren needed to control and when he needed to be pushed. Sometimes Armin intentionally goaded him when he was feeling in the mood for a particularly rough night though Eren had rules. He kept guns firmly out of the bedroom, ignoring how pretty Armin’s lips would look stretched around one, or how he would probably whine if Eren pressed cold metal up against his ass. Guns stayed with Levi, who Eren never had problems getting bloody with. Armin was different. Eren stayed away from even knives most of the time, despite the time Armin had offered to try. It was not that Eren did not want to be rough with Armin sometimes, it was that he deserved better than a gun in his mouth or a knife to his chest. Armin was better than them, deserved better even in Eren’s twisted mind and if he did not contain the darker parts of him when it came to sex Eren feared he would hurt Armin even more than he already had--and that Armin would forgive him. Because Eren knew that he would.

“Eren, please,” Armin panted, squirming against the sheets. “I can't go a dozen times tonight”--and Eren was called the drama queen, he’d only ever made Armin go _ten_ times--”I’m already exhausted from exams.”

Eren pulled off of Armin with a satisfying pop, licking his lips as he considered that. He liked it when Armin cried, shaking, overstimulated and desperate as he chanted Eren’s name again and again. However, Armin had been good and Eren was feeling particularly generous with his own arousal heavy between his legs. “You ruin all my fun,” Eren pouted, though he nudged Armin’s hip. “Roll over.”

Armin shifted onto his hands and knees, lifting his hips without being told because he knew what came next. His stomach was hot with the knowledge, fingers curling in anticipation as Eren leaned over him to grab the lube off the dresser.

Settling between Armin’s legs he wet two fingers, kind enough to warm it some before he pressed them into Armin’s heat. The other male shook, a low moan filling the room. Always so honest, Armin never tried to hide anything from him.

Eren slid a hand down Armin’s spine, guiding him down onto his elbows. He felt a pang of loss when there were no long blonde strands to twine his fingers into. Armin had grown his hair out since they were little, and it had been almost to the middle of his back before Grisha had torn that all away--before he had made Eren cut it all away. Eren felt the loss almost as much as Armin. Even now his hair was only just brushing his ears.

Eren dragged his nails down the sharp curve of Armin’s back, enjoying the way he shuddered. Armin liked pain when given in the right doses and Eren wondered how he had ever thought Armin was innocent.

“Well aren't you just good enough to eat,” Eren murmured, when he was three fingers deep and Armin was practically quivering beneath him. “I would have,” he added, just because Eren was still a bit disgruntled that he hadn't gotten to string an orgasm out of his friend first. “If someone hadn't been impatient.”

Armin made a sound like he’d been punched when Eren pulled away, exchanging his fingers for his cock. “You want something, darling?” Eren asked, just because he knew Armin would beg if he asked him to, just as he knew Armin could break him down and make him do the same if put in the right mood. His friend really did have such interesting sides.

“Yes, fuck,” Armin panted, peering back at Eren over his shoulder. He was always so eloquent the use of the curse had Eren smirking. “Please, Eren. I want you.”

“How sweet,” Eren crooned, pushing past Armin’s weak defenses. He didn't stop until his hips were flush with Armin’s and the blonde shook, eyes pricking with tears because it was too much too soon and it was far too incredible to handle. “Maybe I should start calling you honey bunch instead.”

Armin laughed, and the movement of his hips had Eren squeezing bruises into the other male’s skin. “I think Levi might get jealous,” he said, voice already raspy and thick with what only sex could do.

“Well now I’ll definitely have to try it,” Eren giggled, leaning over Armin’s back and bracing his arms on either side of his shoulders. “Try to be loud, alright darling?”

The cheerful words were nearly overwhelmed by the sharp cry that escaped Armin’s mouth when Eren started in on the long, almost punishing thrusts Armin enjoyed. His cries rose in volume as he was pushed closer and closer to the headboard, hands braced out in front of him as Armin tried to keep himself afloat under the power of Eren’s hips.

Eren’s forehead nearly brushed Armin’s back as he moved, eyes closed and mouth open in ragged pants that spilled curses and sounds of praise. “The neighbors are going to hear if you keep that up,” Eren murmured, biting into Armin’s shoulder. “I hope they do. You're mine.”

“P-pretty sure they already know that,” Armin told him even as he shook apart. Eren’s lips curled. The stuttering was cute. It was also a sign that Armin was getting close.

“Everyone could do with a reminder,” he said, ignoring Armin’s ears to nip at his neck instead. The neck was his weak spot, ears were Levi’s. “Helps you learn and all that. Not that they deserve to hear you.”

The sound that escaped Armin’s lips might have been a laugh; it sounded like a sob. Eren was always a warring mix of possessive and exhibitionistic when it came to other people. He didn't get to reply, any possible words eaten up by the wail that rose up from his chest when Eren’s cock brushed against his prostate.

Always one to get overly sensitive to the point of pain very fast when it came to that oh so useful spot Eren usually saved it for last. It was incredibly easy to get Armin off that way if you knew what you were doing, and Eren definitely did.

A few more well aimed thrusts and Armin was spilling onto the sheets, going boneless and weak. The way he shook apart both under Eren and around him had Eren’s teeth baring. His hands clutched bruises into Armin’s hips as he bucked and Armin sobbed in over sensitivity as Eren followed him over the edge.

When he pulled out and flopped down onto the bed beside Armin, Eren’s arms were already open. He had learned early on that Armin’s penchant for cuddling carried over into sex as well. Used to shooting lesser men in the head for the very same action Eren had slowly grown used to it, deciding that so long as it was cuddling with Armin or Levi he didn't mind.

“I love you,” Armin sighed, arms tightening around Eren’s waist in a weak mimic of the tight embraces Eren enjoyed the most. Eren still didn't understand love. No matter how many still beating hearts he dissected, no matter how many times Levi and Armin explained it, the emotion was still beyond his comprehension. But still, what other word did he have to describe the attachment he had to his friend? The burning desire he had to keep him safe and alive and by his side? “I love you too,” he said, fingers combing through Armin’s hair. “You should sleep, you said you were tired.”

Armin hummed. He shifted, throwing a leg over Eren’s and nestling his head into Eren’s chest. “G’night.”

“Goodnight,” Eren returned, despite the fact that he was fairly sure it was still only about 6pm. He pressed a kiss to Armin’s forehead, because he had recently learned that he liked that. The many rules of human affection still confused Eren sometimes.

“Love you,” Armin smiled, voice already thick with impending sleep and with his hair haloing his face Eren was still not convinced that Armin was not an angel.

“You already said that,” Eren pointed out.

“Still counts,” he answered stubbornly.

Eren’s lips quirked in amusement. “Mine does too then.”

Armin made a sound of happy agreement before falling silent. Eren listened to his breathing, noting the changes in rhythm as it deepened and evened out in sleep. Eren knew he was selfish, keeping Armin so close even after he’d caused him so much pain. He’d known that even before his father had broken apart some of the pieces of what Armin was. But still, Armin had not pushed him away, even when loving Eren had endangered him, blinded him, broken his body and made him into a murderer. So Eren had made up his mind to stay--not that his selfish heart would have actually let him leave--and to give Armin the best of what he deserved. That was close enough to love, right?

Eren held Armin closer, closed his eyes and slept.


End file.
